President Donald Trump has never been shy about his fondness for McDonald’s.

As he addressed the fast-food behemoth’s franchise owners at the McDonald's Impact Summit in Washington DC on Nov. 17, Trump delivered a paean to the Golden Arches as he sought to bolster his self-styled mantle as the champion of affordability issues.

The summit is an annual forum where the McDonald's company’s leadership, franchise owners, and other stakeholders discuss its corporate strategy.

“I'm honored to stand before you as the very first former McDonald's fry cook ever to become president of the United States,” said Trump, a little over a year after he donned a yellow and blue apron to cook up and serve French fries to customers at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s.

He was Candidate Trump back then. And he wanted to connect with working class voters on affordability issues. One year later, as Democrats swept races nationally in November focusing on affordability issues, Trump sought to highlight his own attempts at reining in inflation and highlighting his love for McDonald's, a working class staple.

“While other politicians fly around on campaign planes stocked with expensive catering, on Trump Force One (his private plane) prior to ascending to Air Force One, which is quite a nice plane also, we served only McDonald's almost every time,” he said.

“And I even got Bobby Kennedy to eat a Big Mac,” he added, referring to his health secretary and a member of the high-profile political family, The Kennedys.

Even Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose Make America Healthy Again agenda, eschews ultra-processed food, liked the burger, Trump said.

“He told me he loved it,” said Trump. “He didn't want that publicized.”

Trump then went on to highlight his efforts to eliminate various taxes, loosen regulations and increase investments to bolster the economy.

“No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on social security for our great seniors” he said, enumerating the tax cuts in his signature tax and spending bill that Congress passed in July.

As he did in Truth Social post on Nov. 5, Trump once again claimed that the cost of a Walmart’s 2025 Thanksgiving meal was 25% lesser than 2024.

However, an analysis by FactCheck.org found that while Walmart’s 2025 Thanksgiving meal made up of pre-selected products cost 25% less than it did in 2024, it also included fewer grocery items and different food brands.

The publication found that “there’s still a drop in price when comparing the same basket of items as the 2024 meal, but it’s a smaller decrease — 6.5% by our calculations.”

Average U.S. grocery prices in September were 2.7% higher than they were in September 2024 under former President Joe Biden, according to Consumer Price Index figures. But inflation also reached a high of 9.1% under Biden in June 2022, the highest it had been in four decades.

In 2025, overall food prices are anticipated to rise faster than the historical average rate of growth. In 2025, prices for all food are predicted to increase 3%, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service’s September forecast.

Trump signed an executive order on Nov. 14 eliminating tariffs on products including beef, coffee, tomatoes and oranges to address concerns around affordability.

He also praised McDonald’s for “recommitting to affordable options.”

“I want to give a very special thanks to McDonald’s for slashing prices for your most popular items, bringing back Extra Value Meals,” he said.

Then he made a wish of his own.

“No matter who you are, everyone loves something at McDonald's, there's always something to have,” he said. “I like the fish, I like it. You could do a little bit more tartar sauce.”

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump leans on his love of McDonald's as he touts his efforts to make things affordable

Reporting by Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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